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recently read the story of a man who moved into a retirement community to spend the remaining years of his life.

"Another New Year's Resolution" January 4,2009.  Jack Keating Cicero United Methodist Church Text: Philippians 3: 12-14

I recently read the story of a man who moved into a retirement community to spend the remaining years of his life. It wasn't too long before he had made a number of friends among the other residents. And there was this one lady in particular who he was especially attracted to, and she was attracted to him also. So they ended up spending quite a bit of time together. Finally, one evening he proposed, asking her to marry him.

The next morning he woke up remembering the proposal, but he couldn't remember her answer.

So he went up to her at breakfast and said, "I'm really embarrassed. I proposed to you last night but I can't remember if you said 'Yes' or 'No'. "Oh thank goodness!" she replied. "I remembered saying 'Yes' but I couldn't remember who asked me."

And, you know, sometimes I feel just that way about New Year's resolutions. I tell myself, "This year I'm gong to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to exercise regularly and lose weight. I'm going to do all kinds of things to improve myself physically and spiritually." But then I forget. Maybe you have that problem, too?

So this year I have a suggestion for a New Year's resolution that we ought to be able to remember. It is purposely kind of broad and very general, but here it is ... .let's promise ourselves and God that we will make a change for the better. This year, as God's people, as His church, let's make this one simple resolution --- we're going to make a change for the better.

And to help us do that, let me suggest some ways we can make a change for the better.

      I.          DEVELOP A POSITIVE OUTLOOK TOWARD LIFE.

First of all, each and every one of us can make a change to the better by developing a positive outlook toward life.

A few years ago a young lady committed suicide, leaving behind this note. "I decided that unless life is worth living .... I would just quit living."

How do you feel about your life? Is it worthwhile? Or, let's try changing the question. What would it take for you to feel that your life is worthwhile? What would have to happen to make you feel really positive about your life?

If you won the NY state lottery, would that do it? If your marriage suddenly was all patched up, would that do it? If your kids began to make you proud, or of you got a promotion, would that do it? What would it take for you to really feel positive about your life?

But you know what? If that's the way you're thinking ... you'll probably never feel really positive about life because all those little pieces that must come together to make you feel positive about your life will probably never be there.

And it's for just this reason that I selected Philippians 3 as our text for this morning. But before I re-read those words from Paul, you need to realize that Paul is in prison, chained to a Roman guard, under horrible conditions when he writes these words.

And despite that, he writes these wonderfully positive words, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of for me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

So stop for a moment and ask yourself, "What is Paul trying to grab hold of?" I think he answers that question in verse 10 when he says, "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead."

What is he reaching for? What is his goal? Paul's goal is resurrection from the dead. His goal is eternal life with Jesus. That is what he is reaching for and striving for every day. His goal is heaven.

So here is the point. If our goal is heaven; if our goal is eternal life with Jesus Christ; then all those little setbacks are only the steppingstones that get us closer to the time when we will be with Jesus.

There will surely be disappointments in life, but every day that passes is one day closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. And is that is our goal, then Romans 8:28 is also true. "All things do work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.'

The world around us says that the way to feel good about yourself is by climbing the ladder is success...... by making a lot of money......by having influential friends...... by receiving a lot of awards ......by belonging to the right circles. Those are the things that make you feel good about yourself.

But the Bible teaches us that we are to feel good about ourselves only because God loves us.

You are such a treasured person in God's sight that he gave His only begotten Son for you. That makes you valuable and you can feel good about yourself because of that.

Author Frank Peretti has written, "It's no wonder our young people today have such poor self images when they go to school and read books that tell them that they are products of blind chance ..... that they are just accidents of nature .... Unplanned, unloved, and unwanted."

But the Bible reminds us that we are planned, wanted, loved by, and cared for by God himself. Basketball coach Jim Valvano was the head coach of the North Carolina State basketball team.

He first rose to fame when his team started winning championships. Everybody liked him. He was always ready with a joke to crack and he had this winning way of dealing with people.

But in 1991 Valvano learned that he had inoperable bone cancer. During Christmas time, 1992, he said, "It's difficult to be thankful this Christmas because I'm not sure I'll be here next Christmas." And he wasn't. He died in 1993. "But" he said, ''this Christmas I'm getting down on my knees and thanking God for every day of my 46 years of life."

You see, he was positive about life because he realized that life is a very precious gift God has given us. And how it must sadden the Lord that sometimes we take this gift the He has given us and don't treasure it up for the precious thing that it is.

II. DEVELOP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHURCH

Secondly, I think we need to have a positive attitude toward the church. I don't say this in a self serving way at all because one thing that is most right about the church is that it is our desire to simply lift up Jesus, to reach out to the lost and the dying world with the message of salvation. And still, at times I hear people criticizing the church.

For instance, someone says, "the church costs too much." We always seem to be worrying about how much something costs and judging it's effectiveness by it's cost.

In John 12 there's that great account of something that happened as Jesus ate with his disciples.

If you remember, a woman brought a jar filled with expensive perfume and broke it and anointed his feet with the perfume.

But immediately Judas Iscariot and some of the disciples criticized the waste, saying that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus defended her, saying, "She has done what she could for my burial."

You see, we have a different value system then the world. The world would consider something waste that we consider valuable. The world thinks you're wasting your time going to church. You wanted to hear about God and Jesus Christ and the world think that's a waste.

When the world looks at your tax return and sees that you gave away 10% or more of your income to build the kingdom of God, it would call that a waste, too.

But we come to realize that the things the world calls wasteful today are probably the only things that will last for all eternity. Remember, when the woman poured the perfume on His feet, Jesus said, "Wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

But we need to remember that when we risk something for God we could lose. We have won the big battle already because Jesus went to the cross and died for us. But we might lose some skirmishes along the way because the evil one is still the prince of this world and there are a lot of things going on that are not God's will.

But I would still rather be trying something great for God and fail. ... Than be playing it safe and succeed.

I've read that when John Wesley was preaching in England he was considered a rather spiffy dresser. One Sunday morning it seems he wore a bow tie that had long ribbons hanging down. After the sermon was over a lady walked up to him and asked, "Brother Wesley, are you open to some criticism?"

Wesley replied, "I guess so. What might you want to criticize?" And she said, "The ribbons on your tie are entirely too long and inappropriate for a man of God." And she took out her scissors and cut them off.

A hush fell over the people standing there as Wesley calmly asked, ''Now may I borrow your scissors for a moment?" As she handed them over to him he said, "Ma' am, are you open to some criticism?" She answered, "Well, I suppose I am." And he said, "All right then, stick out your tongue."

Ephesians 4:15 finds Paul reminding us the "We need to speak the truth in love." We need to make sure it is the truth but we also to be sure that we are speaking it in the spirit of love. So we need to develop a positive attitude toward the church.

      III. DISPLAY A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS

And finally, we need to develop a positive attitude toward others.

Robert Schuler has written, "It would amaze us how many people we could influence for Christ is we would just treat people nicely."

This is a hard world, a world that doesn't always exercise courtesy. Sometimes it's a dog-eat­-dog world. People are jockeying for positions in the grocery store checkout lines, on the roadways and in their companies and they are filled with all kinds of stress and anxiety.

But the church must be a place where we all can come and be accepted and loved and encouraged and built up..... a place where there are people to help us carry our burdens and where everyone is made to feel welcome.

One of the things about this church, that we hear when we call on new folks, is that....

"Everyone was so warm and friendly in your church. We really felt at home there."

So you see, if we treat each other with love ... then wonderful things will happen for the kingdom of God. So this new year let's try to remember Jesus words in Luke 19: 10 as we think about others. Jesus reminded us that ''the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." When we display a positive attitude toward others, great things will happen for Christ.

When Terry Bradshaw was inducted into the National Football League's Hall of Fame he mentioned the other players who played with him and said, "This honor would mean nothing to me if I didn't have people like that who loved me."

People need people. Someone wrote a sing about that, I think. But more than that ... people need positive people.... a constant positive influence in life.

Maybe that, more than any other, ought to be your new year's resolution this year ..... A change for the better. "I'm going to be positive as I look at my life. I'm going to be positive as I look at the church. And I'm going to be positive as I look at others."

May I suggest to you that as this resolution filters down to every segment of your life, that this year will be one of the best years you've ever had. As you live each day of it, you will get closer and closer to the goal, the heavenward prize, to be with Jesus.

We are a year closer to heaven than we were at this time last year. Everything is on course, folks. We need to trust the Lord and love Him..... to place our lives in His hands and allow Him to use us to His glory.

In the office of golfer Arnold Palmer hangs a plaque with these words:

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win but think you can't

It's almost certain you won't

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later, the person who wins

Is the person who thinks they can.

I think together, with God, we all can. May it be so, this day, and this New Year, and forever.

AMEN